Band of Brothers: Normany Invaders
by backbreakingmetal
Summary: Oneshot that follows a Sergeant and his squad through the DDay invasion. Rate M for language and description of gore and violence.


_I never wanted to be a soldier. I was happy with the way my life was going. A twenty three year old Texas farm boy whose only plans included where to spend the next day fishing. But that all changed. War broke out and I signed up…it was part of being an American is all about. I apparently was good at being a soldier, too. I was singled out during training and was given the rank of Sergeant. A leader of men…kids…who all seemed to be so much younger than me. And now I was going into combat with them. God…please, help me through this._

The mist was thick. Cold, salty spray shot up over the sides and bow of the landing craft as it bobbed up and down the surges of waves. Sergeant Luke Franklin stood in the landing craft, standing shoulder to shoulder with twenty-nine other men in his Company. Glancing to his left, he stared at Private Donnie Dix. His face was pure white, his plastic wrapped M1 rifle shaking from more than just the boat rocking. Franklin turned just in time to sidestep a spray of vomit from Private Lenny Walker behind them. Walker stood with his Browning Automatic Rifle, clutched in his right hand as he used his other to try to keep his helmet from falling off his head as he let off another retch of puke. Franklin had to yell to be heard over the roar of the engine behind them.

"You ok, Walker?"

"Just great, sir."

Franklin grinned as he turned back around and patted Dix on his shoulder. Dix slowly turned and looked at him.

"Relax, Dix, the Navy boys probably already bombed all those Krauts to hell. All we'll have to do is clean up the mess."

Dix nodded his head slowly seeming to relax. Suddenly a surge of water exploded next to their landing craft, a tower of water spraying down over them. Another explosion rocked the boat from the other side. The motorman screamed out over the engine.

"Two minutes!!!"

Captain Lawrence Timmer stood at the front of the landing craft, turning to look at his men behind him.

"Listen up!!! This is it, fellas…this is what we've been training for!!!"

Another explosion rocked the landing craft, but this time the shell hit the landing craft next to them, exploding it into a fireball. Franklin could hear the screams of the men in the other craft before it exploded again, sinking to the bottom of the channel. Timmer continued over the roar of the explosions around them.

"We will take these Kraut bastards and we will show them why they should have never tried to start a war against the U-S-of-A!!!"

"One minute!!!"

"Get ready, fellas!!! We got a war to win!!"

Franklin took a deep breath, gripping his M1A1 carbine tighter. Opening his eyes slowly he watched as Normandy beach slowly came into view above the landing ramp…the hell they were literally driving head long into. Bullets began to ping and ricochet off around the hull of the landing craft. Dix was outright shaking now, fear gripping his entire body. Franklin shook his head…knowing that his squad was probably going to be down a man as soon as that ramp went down.

"Clear the ramp! Thirty sec---"

The motorman's chest exploded as bullets tore into him. His shipmate immediately grabbed the controls of the boat as the now dead motorman's body dropped off the side of the craft. The craft suddenly lurched forward as it plowed into the sand underneath the surf of the beach. The ramp to the craft quickly dropped down, opening the craft out to the beach. A river of machine gun fire immediately poured into the craft, killing a dozen men instantly. Franklin watched as Timmer's head exploded before he even had a chance to move a step forward. Bullets plowed through the bodies in front of Franklin, blood and gore showering anyone who was still breathing.

"Fuck this! Everyone get over the side!!!"

Franklin quickly jumped up and hauled himself up over the side of the landing craft, dropping face first into the water below. Pushing himself up, Franklin quickly trudged through the knee high water and up onto the beach. His landing craft suddenly exploded behind him, throwing him to the sand. Sitting up on his knees, Franklin quickly picked his helmet back up, dropping it back on his head just as a streak of sand was kicked up beside him, machine gun rounds plowing into the soft soil. Franklin quickly stood up and ran forward, diving into an artillery impact crater as another explosion shook the ground behind him.

Machine gun fire tore through the air, tearing apart anybody in its path, screams of those not lucky enough to have dies from the horrible wounds inflicted upon them filling the chaotic air. Franklin tore the plastic from around his carbine, checked the magazine, and then chambered a round. Poking his head up above the edge of the crater, Franklin watched as a group of soldiers were torn to pieces as a mortar round impacted beside them, their screams barely audible over the noise and chaos around them. Two more soldiers slid into the crater behind Franklin. Private Greg Gormanski and Corporal Oscar Phills. Gormanski stared at Franklin.

"Good to see you're still alive, sir! I thought I was the only one who made it out of the transport."

"Not quite, Gorman. Phills, where's your Sergeant?"

"Dead, sir. Took a mortar round to the head!"

"Fuck. Well, let's get moving."

The two men stared at Franklin like he was crazy. Franklin just turned and jumped up over the crater edge and ran, the two men close behind him. Machine gun rounds crisscrossed around the men as they ran, diving behind a tank obstacle as a machine gunner finally got a bead on them. Rounds pinged off the old, welded railroad rails as Franklin, Gormanski, and Phills ducked down behind it. Gormanski ducked down behind the cover as a bullet ricocheted off near his head.

"Fuckin' hell!!! Why didn't I sign up for Airborne!?!"

Franklin almost grinned as he turned to Gormanski

"Cause, Gorman, you're scared shitless of flying."

"That's true, but it sure as shit beats runnin' head first into a fuckin' meat grinder!"

A blast of heat caused Franklin to wince as a flamethrower crew was incinerated by their own tanks as a tracer round slammed into it and erupted it into a fireball around them. Looking back at the shoreline, Franklin watched as more landing craft got up to the beach. Some men were lucky enough to get out before they were slaughtered…most weren't. A number of landing craft were burning on the shoreline. Dead American soldiers littered the beach.

"Sergeant Franklin!!!"

Franklin turned and saw Walker trying to get his attention. He and Private Quincy Lopolis, Private Michael Samson, and Private Corbin Putman squatted behind similar cover near them. Franklin was extremely happy to see Samson considering he had a bazooka strapped to his back. Machine gun rounds ricocheted again off the cover. A half a dozen men screamed in pain as the bullets continued forward, strafing their position and hitting most of them.

"Son of a bitch…Walker!!!"

"Sir!"

"Pop smoke and move up the beach!! Get to the sea wall!!"

"Yes, sir!"

Walker signaled the men with him, then a group of other soldiers around them to follow him. Walker, Putman, and Lopolis all pulled smoke grenades from their belts, popping their pins and lobbing them up the beach. Dark blue smoke erupted from the small canisters filling the air with a billowing cloud of smoke. Walker gave the signal after the smoke had gathered enough and a large group of men took off, running for the wall of sand just up the beach. An .88 round impacted near them, throwing a few men into the air, limbs exploding loose from the bodies. Franklin yelled at any man near him.

"We've got to get moving!! Let's go!!"

Franklin spun around the cover and took off running at a dead sprint, heading into the cloud of smoke as it quickly crept down the beach, giving them good enough cover to move. He heard men running behind him scream as machine gun fire strafed into the smoke randomly. Running out of the smoke, Franklin quickly assessed the situation.

A trench was dug directly behind the sea wall, German helmets moving around in it. Behind the wall, the ground slope steeply upward to a rocky outcropping. A massive bunker stood to the left, a firing line cut in the concrete for the German machine gunners to fire out from. To the right, a machine gun nest sat, two crews inside covering the ground below them and a single trench that ran up the outcropping to the top. It was the only way up.

Pulling a grenade from his belt, Franklin pulled the pin and tossed it into the trench ahead of him. A small group of Germans popped their heads up, yelling and pulled their rifles up to fire at Franklin. Franklin prepared himself to dive down to the sand, but before the German rifles fired his grenade went off, exploding in the trench and tearing the Germans inside apart.

"Into the trench!!"

Franklin dove into the trench, followed closely by a number of other soldiers…but nowhere near as many as had ran for it to begin with. A German ran around the corner towards Franklin, but was quickly cut down by Franklin's carbine.

"Clear this trench!"

Groups of men split off and started down either side of the trench. Weapons immediately started going off, but Franklin had to ignore them. He had to get out of this trench. One of the two machine gun crews in the nest above them turned and started firing down at the trench.

"Putman, Gorman, Phills, put some goddamn fire on that fucking crew!!!"

The three men quickly rose above the trench firing rounds from their M1 Garands. Bullets impacted into the sandbags around the crew causing them to duck momentarily behind their cover, but the American's were at too bad of an angle to hit them. One by one the Garands pinged as their magazine clips popped out of the breaches on the guns. Franklin and the others ducked back down as machine gun fire began to pepper the trench again. The three men quickly pushed fresh clips into their rifles and readied for another chance to fire upon the machinegun crew. Franklin turned to Samson.

"Samson, please God tell me you have a round for that thing."

"I only got one, Sarge. It was hard enough to make it out of the water with this big damn thing on my back. I had to ditch the bag of spare rockets before I got dragged down."

"All I need is one, kid. You get ready, cause when these guys open up again, you pull up and fire that thing into that nest. You had better not miss either, Samson, or I swear to God, I'll kill you myself."

Samson unsung the bazooka from his shoulder, handing his M1 to Franklin. Franklin slung the rifle over his shoulder and readied his own carbine.

"Alright boys, let's give Samson a chance to shine."

The other three men smiled as they popped up from the trench and fired their rifles. Franklin stood up and started popping off rounds at the sandbagged nest.

"Now, Sams---"

Before Franklin could even finish, a roar erupted behind him and a flash of heat past beside him as the rocket shot out from the bazooka tube. The machine gun crew tried to move out from the nest, but before they could get anywhere the rocket impacted into the rock below them, exploding the nest into a cloud of dust. Sand and pieces of broken rock rained down on the American's in the trench as they roared a cheer. Franklin turned and looked at Samson.

"Nice shot, kid."

Samson smiled as he dropped the bazooka to the ground and took his rifle back. Franklin turned back to look at the troops around him.

"Let's go!!! Up the hill!!!"

The troops started up the trench, moving up the steep hill. A number of men didn't make it, falling to machine gun fire from the bunker to the left of the trench. A few soldiers stayed in the trench and tried to fire into the gun holes of the bunker. Two Privates moved up the trench in front of Franklin as they got up to the top of the hill, reaching the rocky top. The two Privates moved quickly out into the trench over the hill, but were immediately cut down from rounds.

Franklin stayed low as bullets impacted around the trench. Turning around, he pushed men through the hole into the trench. The men stayed on either side of trench firing over the sides. Walker and Gorman moved into the trench and pushed past Franklin, firing their weapons as they went. A radioman jogged up the trench towards Franklin before the Sergeant grabbed him by the collar, shouting over the gunfire around them.

"Radio command. Sector 9 has been breached, but the beach is not yet secure. Reinforcements needed."

The radioman nodded and quickly pulled the handset from his back, putting it underneath his helmet. Franklin turned around, but was immediately thrown back against the opposite wall of the trench as a grenade exploded outside the trench in front of him. His ears rang as he felt a pair of hands grab him and pull him into a sitting position. The voice sounded like it was miles away. Shaking his head, Franklin opened his eyes. Lopolis squatted down in front of him, yelling at him. The ringing suddenly came to a halt and he heard Lopolis' voice.

"Are---you---okay?"

"Just peachy, Lopo. Now get off me and start firing at something."

Lopolis grinned as he jogged down the trench. Franklin lifted his carbine off the ground and stood, peeking up over the trench. Germans moved around in trenches all around, a number of other Germans poured out from bunkers, running over open ground to get to a trench. A number of German infantry were on trenches opposite either side of the trench the Americans had gotten to. At the end of the American occupied trench a number of soldiers fired around the corners at Germans trying to make their way to the entrance of the trench.

A grenade suddenly was tossed up out of a German trench and landed near Franklin. Not wanting to experience that again, Tanner quickly lifted the potato masher up and lobbed it back into the German trench. A number of Germans jumped out of the trench only to be cut down by American fire before the grenade exploded inside the trench causing a number of screams to erupt from within.

"Move to the next trench!! Go, go, go!!"

A number of soldiers jumped up out of the trench and scrambled trying to make it to the next one. A surprising number made it, jumping down into it and continuing to fire. A mortar round impacted near the trench, debris raining down around it. Lifting his carbine up, Franklin fired at a group of Germans emerging from a bunker moving towards the cover of a trench. Three immediately went down before the other two were cut down by other soldiers' fire. The radioman grabbed his shoulder and Franklin turned to face him.

"Sir, Sectors 13, 7, 12, and 3 have all have been breached. We have reinforcements coming in on transports to the beach. Colonel Harris wants to clear the bunkers out to help the troops incoming."

"Radio back a copy of the orders and try to find out what happened to the fucking Airborne troops. I thought they were supposed to take out the artillery by now."

"Yes, sir!"

A few American soldiers tossed grenades into trenches, explosions kicking up blood and dirt. Franklin caught sight of another trench along the hill being overtaken by Americans. A group of Germans were caught in between the two surges of American troops and immediately were torn to shreds by gunfire. Another mortar impacted, this time in the trench, blowing a number of Americans to pieces.

"Fuck. Gorman, Walker, Lopo, you're with me."

The three men quickly moved beside Franklin, pulling ammunition from a few dead soldiers around them. Franklin quickly saw something that caught his attention and picked it up off of a dead soldier.

"C'mon!"

Franklin quickly leapt up over the trench and started jogging along, staying as low as possible. The Americans had taken a large portion of the trench system out from where they broke through. Staying behind American cover fire, Franklin and his small squad ran towards the massive concrete bunker that stood out from the rocks. Machine gun fire tore up the dirt around them as they ran, jumping into a trench. An explosion erupted near them as a bazooka round impacted into the machine gun nest that was firing on them. Lopolis dove down into the trench head first, landing in a heap on the ground.

"Christ, Sarge, where the hell are we going?"

"Right around the corner, Lopo."

The four men suddenly spun as a group of Germans ran around the corner, unaware of the Americans before the bullets tore into their bodies. Franklin dropped the empty clip from his carbine and slid another on into the gun as the other three pushed fresh clips into their guns. Gormanski knocked the breach closed on his rifle and aimed it down the trench.

"Right around 'dat corner 'dere, Sarge?"

"You got that right."

"Fuckin' hell."

The four men moved forward, their weapons at the ready. Reaching the corner, Franklin signaled Walker to get behind an old ammo crate facing down the trench. Franklin aimed around the corner as Walker slid over and got behind the crate. The metal door in the concrete wall suddenly opened and three Germans ran out from within the bunker. One of them was able to fire his MP40 before Walker emptied his BAR down the trench taking the three soldiers down. The machine guns bullets tore into the ammo crate in front of Walker causing him to duck down momentarily before dropping his empty clip and popping a new one into the gun. Franklin moved from around the corner and kept his gun trained on the open steel door. A German peaked around the corner, but was met with three rounds whizzing past his head from Franklin.

"Lopo, need a grenade here!"

Lopolis moved from around the corner and threw a grenade over Franklin into the bunker door. Franklin dropped to the ground and rolled over against the side of the trench as a frantic German voice echoed out from within the bunker before the explosion of the grenade cut them out. Franklin, Lopolis, and Gormanski moved up to the door, never moving their barrels from the opening as Walker kept the rear covered. Shouldering his carbine, Franklin pulled the satchel charge he pulled off of the dead body and pulled the fuse. The hiss of the charge's fuse igniting caused Tanner to toss the satchel into the bunker. The four men turned and headed quickly down the trench, before a massive explosion rocked the ground beneath them. Glancing over the edge of the trench, Franklin saw that the bunker had essentially been caved in from the explosion of the satchel charge.

Standing up in the trench, Franklin watched as squads of US troops moved across the battlefield, moving from bunker to bunker clearing them out with flamethrowers and explosives. A number of German troops remained, but they had been pushed back away from the beach, giving the Americans at least a small foothold in France. But this war had just begun…and it was sure to get a lot more intense and bloody before it was done and over.


End file.
